Job 36–38
36:1And Elihu continued, and said:
2“Bear with me a little, and I will show you,for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.3I will get my knowledge from afarand ascribe righteousness to my Maker.4For truly my words are not false;one who is perfect in knowledge is with you. 5“Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any;he is mighty in strength of understanding.6He does not keep the wicked alive,but gives the afflicted their right.7He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,but with kings on the thronehe sets them forever, and they are exalted.8And if they are bound in chainsand caught in the cords of affliction,9then he declares to them their workand their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.10He opens their ears to instructionand commands that they return from iniquity.11If they listen and serve him,they complete their days in prosperity,and their years in pleasantness.12But if they do not listen, they perish by the swordand die without knowledge. 13“The godless in heart cherish anger;they do not cry for help when he binds them.14They die in youth,and their life ends among the cult prostitutes.15He delivers the afflicted by their afflictionand opens their ear by adversity.16He also allured you out of distressinto a broad place where there was no cramping,and what was set on your table was full of fatness. 17“But you are full of the judgment on the wicked;judgment and justice seize you.18Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing,and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.19Will your cry for help avail to keep you from distress,or all the force of your strength?20Do not long for the night,when peoples vanish in their place.21Take care; do not turn to iniquity,for this you have chosen rather than affliction.22Behold, God is exalted in his power;who is a teacher like him?23Who has prescribed for him his way,or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’? 24“Remember to extol his work,of which men have sung.25All mankind has looked on it;man beholds it from afar.26Behold, God is great, and we know him not;the number of his years is unsearchable.27For he draws up the drops of water;they distill his mist in rain,28which the skies pour downand drop on mankind abundantly.29Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,the thunderings of his pavilion?30Behold, he scatters his lightning about himand covers the roots of the sea.31For by these he judges peoples;he gives food in abundance.32He covers his hands with the lightningand commands it to strike the mark.33Its crashing declares his presence;the cattle also declare that he rises.
37:1“At this also my heart tremblesand leaps out of its place.2Keep listening to the thunder of his voiceand the rumbling that comes from his mouth.3Under the whole heaven he lets it go,and his lightning to the corners of the earth.4After it his voice roars;he thunders with his majestic voice,and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.5God thunders wondrously with his voice;he does great things that we cannot comprehend.6For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.7He seals up the hand of every man,that all men whom he made may know it.8Then the beasts go into their lairs,and remain in their dens.9From its chamber comes the whirlwind,and cold from the scattering winds.10By the breath of God ice is given,and the broad waters are frozen fast.11He loads the thick cloud with moisture;the clouds scatter his lightning.12They turn around and around by his guidance,to accomplish all that he commands themon the face of the habitable world.13Whether for correction or for his landor for love, he causes it to happen. 14“Hear this, O Job;stop and consider the wondrous works of God.15Do you know how God lays his command upon themand causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?16Do you know the balancings of the clouds,the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,17you whose garments are hotwhen the earth is still because of the south wind?18Can you, like him, spread out the skies,hard as a cast metal mirror?19Teach us what we shall say to him;we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.20Shall it be told him that I would speak?Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up? 21“And now no one looks on the lightwhen it is bright in the skies,when the wind has passed and cleared them.22Out of the north comes golden splendor;God is clothed with awesome majesty.23The Almighty—we cannot find him;he is great in power;justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.24Therefore men fear him;he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”
38:1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
2“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?3Dress for action like a man;I will question you, and you make it known to me. 4“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?Tell me, if you have understanding.5Who determined its measurements—surely you know!Or who stretched the line upon it?6On what were its bases sunk,or who laid its cornerstone,7when the morning stars sang togetherand all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8“Or who shut in the sea with doorswhen it burst out from the womb,9when I made clouds its garmentand thick darkness its swaddling band,10and prescribed limits for itand set bars and doors,11and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,and here shall your proud waves be stayed’? 12“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,and caused the dawn to know its place,13that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,and the wicked be shaken out of it?14It is changed like clay under the seal,and its features stand out like a garment.15From the wicked their light is withheld,and their uplifted arm is broken. 16“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,or walked in the recesses of the deep?17Have the gates of death been revealed to you,or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?18Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?Declare, if you know all this. 19“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,and where is the place of darkness,20that you may take it to its territoryand that you may discern the paths to its home?21You know, for you were born then,and the number of your days is great! 22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,23which I have reserved for the time of trouble,for the day of battle and war?24What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? 25“Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rainand a way for the thunderbolt,26to bring rain on a land where no man is,on the desert in which there is no man,27to satisfy the waste and desolate land,and to make the ground sprout with grass? 28“Has the rain a father,or who has begotten the drops of dew?29From whose womb did the ice come forth,and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?30The waters become hard like stone,and the face of the deep is frozen. 31“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiadesor loose the cords of Orion?32Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,or can you guide the Bear with its children?33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?Can you establish their rule on the earth? 34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,that a flood of waters may cover you?35Can you send forth lightnings, that they may goand say to you, ‘Here we are’?36Who has put wisdom in the inward partsor given understanding to the mind?37Who can number the clouds by wisdom?Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,38when the dust runs into a massand the clods stick fast together? 39“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,40when they crouch in their densor lie in wait in their thicket?41Who provides for the raven its prey,when its young ones cry to God for help,and wander about for lack of food?
Luke 2:41–50
41Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.
Psalm 139:1–12
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
139:1O LORD, you have searched me and known me!2You know when I sit down and when I rise up;you discern my thoughts from afar.3You search out my path and my lying downand are acquainted with all my ways.4Even before a word is on my tongue,behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.5You hem me in, behind and before,and lay your hand upon me.6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;it is high; I cannot attain it. 7Where shall I go from your Spirit?Or where shall I flee from your presence?8If I ascend to heaven, you are there!If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!9If I take the wings of the morningand dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,10even there your hand shall lead me,and your right hand shall hold me.11If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,and the light about me be night,”12even the darkness is not dark to you;the night is bright as the day,for darkness is as light with you.
Ecclesiastes 11:4–6
4He who observes the wind will not sow,and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
6In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
